You can also sweep unwanted email from your inbox or archive folders. Sweep lets you automatically delete all incoming email from a particular sender, keep only the latest message from that sender, or delete email from that sender that's older than 10 days. Select a message you want to sweep, and select Sweep.

Saving photos and documents to OneDrive is another good way to make room in your inbox. To learn how to save attachments to OneDrive, see Free up storage in Outlook.com.

Check your inbox filter and sort settings

If your inbox is filtering based on categories or if your sort order is different than usual, you might not see the messages you expect to see. Filtering and sorting are accessible at the top of your message list.

For filtering, select Filter > All.

For sorting, select Filter > Sort by.

To check for recent messages, choose Date. To look for messages from a specific person, choose From. You can reverse the order by choosing the option again.

Check the Other tab

Focused Inbox separates your inbox into two tabs, Focused and Other, to help you focus on the messages that matter most to you. If Focused Inbox is enabled for you, some messages sent to you might be in the Other tab. You can right-click any messages you want to appear in Focused and select Move to Focused inbox or Always move to Focused inbox. Focused Inbox will learn which messages should go always go to the Focused tab.

If you see the sender's address listed under Blocked senders, select their address and then select Remove
> Save.

If the sender's address isn't in your Blocked senders list, you can add them to your Safe senders list. Email from contacts in your Safe senders list will never go to the Junk Email folder.

Select Settings
> Options.

On the left side of the screen, select Safe senders.

Enter the sender's email address and then select Remove
> Save.

To return to your inbox, select Options at the top of the screen.

Check your junk email settings

Select Settings
> Options.

On the left side of the screen, select Filters and reporting.

Under Choose a junk email filter, choose the level of protection you want and then select Save.

With Standard, some junk email might make it to your inbox. You'll need to manually mark those messages as junk.

With Exclusive, some legitimate mail will end up in your Junk folder. You'll need to check the folder periodically.

To return to your inbox, select Options at the top of the screen.

Check your email rules

Email rules can help keep your inbox tidy by deleting, moving, categorizing, or flagging messages based on the sender, subject, or other criteria. There might be a rule in place that's preventing you from seeing certain email in your inbox.

Select Settings
> Options.

On the left side of the screen, select Inbox and sweep rules.

If there are one or more rules that are preventing you from seeing the email you want, do one of the following.

Select the rule that you want to delete and then select Delete
.

Select the rule and then Select Edit
to change the rule settings so you can find the messages more easily. For example, you might change the action in the rule from delete to categorize or flag.

If you want email forwarding to remain on, make sure to check the box for Keep a copy of forwarded messages.

If you've set up another email account to forward to your Outlook.com inbox, make sure forwarding hasn't expired and is properly set up. Check with your other email services support for more information.

Check if your account is blocked

If you can't send or receive email, your account might be temporarily blocked because we noticed some unusual sign-in activity. To learn how to unblock your account, see Unblock my Outlook.com account.

Remove some connected accounts

You can connect a maximum of 20 other email accounts to your Outlook.com account. If you’ve connected more than 20 accounts, you won’t be able to send or receive messages from any of your connected accounts. To resolve the issue, please remove some connected accounts so that the total number of connected accounts is 20 or fewer.

Contact the sender

If you've tried the solutions above and still aren't receiving messages from a sender, contact the sender. Let them know that:

If you're having trouble sending messages in Outlook.com, try these solutions.

Your inbox is full

If your inbox is full, you won't be able to send or receive new messages. To make room in your inbox, try emptying your junk folder by right-clicking Junk Email > Delete all.

You can also use Sweep to remove unwanted email from your inbox or archive folders. Sweep lets you automatically delete all incoming email from a particular sender, keep only the latest message from that sender, or delete email from that sender that's older than 10 days. Select a message you want to sweep, and select Sweep.

Saving photos and documents to OneDrive is another good way to make room in your inbox. To learn how to save attachments to OneDrive, see Free up storage in Outlook.com.

You can’t send email from Windows Live Mail, a mobile device, or Outlook on your computer

Earlier this year we introduced the new Outlook.com, which helps you focus on what matters, collaborate effortlessly, and get more done. As part of the upgrade, we are also moving accounts to a more secure and reliable infrastructure.

You’ll need to reconnect your Outlook.com account to Outlookon your computer or Outlook on your phone to ensure the best experience and fix issues. For more information about how to reconnect your account, please see this article.

Use the Mail app on Windows

Windows Live Mail 2012 no longer connects to Outlook.com accounts. Windows Live Mail users will need to use a different app or use a web browser to visit www.outlook.com. The built-in Mail app on Windows is the recommended replacement for Windows Live Mail 2012, and is the most-used email application among Outlook.com users today. Read more about why Windows Live Mail 2012 will not connect to Outlook.com.

If you've connected your Outlook.com account to Outlookon your computer or or Outlook on your phone and you try to send a message with an attachment that's larger than 25MB, Outlook won't send the message.

To fix the issue, go to your Outbox and then open the stuck email messages. Start with the oldest message first. If the message has an attachment that’s larger than 25MB, delete the attachment and either attach a smaller file or upload the file to OneDrive and then attach a link to the attachment. You can then try to send the message again.

If the email was created on a mobile device, tap to close the message. You'll receive a prompt asking you if you want to save or delete the message. Select Save and then Sync. You can then to go Outlook.com on a computer, open the draft, and send it.

You have too many connected accounts

You can connect a maximum of 20 other email accounts to your Outlook.com account. If you’ve connected more than 20 accounts, you won’t be able to send or receive messages from any of your connected accounts. To resolve the issue, please remove some connected accounts so that the total number of connected accounts is 20 or fewer.

Your account might be blocked

If you can't send or receive email, your account might be temporarily blocked because we noticed some unusual sign-in activity. To learn how to unblock your account, see Unblock my Outlook.com account.

You've added too many recipients to one email

Outlook.com limits the number of recipients you can add to an email message. If you exceed the limit, an error message will let you know how many recipients you can add to your email. Remove some recipients and then try sending again.

Your content triggered junk email filters

Outlook.com blocks the sending of messages when the content looks like junk email to the Outlook.com junk filters. Occasionally, legitimate email can be marked as junk. If your message is blocked, try changing the content of your message and sending it again.

In the dialog box, select the arrow next to A phone number, and select An alternate email address.

Enter an alternate email address.

Select Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

Two-step verification

Select Set up two-step verification.

Enter your password, and select Sign in.

Select Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

Insufficient permission

Information Rights Management (IRM) allows senders to specify access permissions for their email messages, which might include preventing messages from being forwarded, read, printed, or copied by unauthorized people. To learn more about this feature, see Introduction to IRM for email messages.